


Couch to Marathon Training Plan

by BoldlyLuckyCheesecake



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Amputee Bucky Barnes, Amputee Sam, Cats, M/M, Meet-Cute, Veteran!Bucky, Washington D.C., Workout fic, and trying to figure out what to do with themselves, gratuitous use of DC metro, gym shenanigans, gym-trainer!steve, hopefully some humor, just people trying to get by as adults, really I just want everyone to be happy and not have any angst, training for a marathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 21:06:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7817227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoldlyLuckyCheesecake/pseuds/BoldlyLuckyCheesecake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky Barnes is missing something.  Since he's gotten out of the army (not a choice he got to make), he's checked off all the boxes to Successfully Adult.  But between work and seeing his sister and soon-to-be-parent friends he's gotten into a rut.</p>
<p>Maybe joining a gym for veterans and being paired up with human Adonis Steve Rogers is what he needs to fill that missing something.</p>
<p>(basically a meet-cute involving a gym, excessive amounts of running, and a cat because I'm completely self-indulgent and just want them to be happy!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Couch to Marathon Training Plan

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone!! this is my contribution to the SBB 2016! whoo! a HUGE thanks to thestuckylibrary for hosting, it has been great fun and a nice way to meet people in fandom :)
> 
> this fic has multiple people to thank!
> 
> first, I want to thank my AMAZING artist [esaael](http://esaael.tumblr.com/) . there are two wonderful pieces of art to accompany this fic (if they are not embedded properly feel free to view them on their tumblr! )  
> second, thanks so much to [naomilasenby](http://naomilasenby.tumblr.com/) for being a FANTASTIC beta! you had great suggestions and I hope you like the changes!  
> finally, I got the idea for the story while helping with the on your left run club, [onyourleftrunclub](http://onyourleftrunningclub.tumblr.com/) .
> 
> hope you like it! feel free to come chat with me on [tumblr](http://boldlyluckycheesecake.tumblr.com) :)

**Couch to 5K Training Plan for Beginners**

A rut.  Bucky was pretty sure he was stuck in one of those. 

He’d woken up with The Plan laid out in front of him, just like every other Sunday morning:

  1. Feed the cat (this was a hard one to ignore as said furry creature liked to hassle him worse than his old drill sergeant to get out of bed) and himself
  2. Go wander around the Mall, popping into a museum or two, depending on what was happening that weekend
  3. Meet up with Becky for their traditional Sunday dinner
  4. Grocery shopping on the way home
  5. Feed cat, go to bed



As he lay in bed debating how much longer he could ignore the meowing and constant pawing at his face he tried to pinpoint how he had become the type of person who had so little going on in their life that every day was planned out.  He personally didn’t care if the plans shifted, it wasn’t a control thing…it was more a way to try to feel like a “successful adult.”  It wasn’t a problem with his job…just the life outside of it.  He’d always wanted to be an Army engineer until he learned just how perfect the futuristic sniper rifle felt in his hands.  It turned out the sniper rifle had felt similarly enough about him to fast track Bucky to ranger school and then the grueling training to become one of the Army’s elite snipers.

Unfortunately the years of training, camouflage and crawling around through the dirt at a speed a snail would bore of didn’t help when his convoy was blown up during a routine transportation between assignments.

Down a good portion of an arm and back on American soil for the first time since before he was legal drinking age he had shouldered though a joint B.S./M.S. degree at home in NY before duty called him again and brought him down to D.C.  As much as he loved his engineering and science courses it became pretty clear early on that he would be no use in a lab (it was pretty damn hard to solder with no extra hand to steady the iron).  Which is how he found himself in the weapons research department at the DOD. 

It was a sweet job: getting paid to read and learn about the most ground-breaking research, from the most basic level up through advancements that were already being incorporated into the market, then reporting it to the higher-ups.  He _loved_ his job.  It turns out it was even more rewarding to have his finger on the pulse of the whole field instead of working in just one niche. 

At work he knew his place.  He was surrounded by a team he loved and immersed in the work he breathed for.  But when he left at the end of the day he floated unmoored until he was heading back in.  Weekdays were filled with working the maximum number of hours then hanging out with Winter curled on his lap while watching TV and dicking away time on the internet.  Saturday passed in much the same way, except including chores and spending the night out. 

Last night it’d been a low-key get together with Natasha and Clint trying out the new bar on the Georgetown waterfront.  He didn’t know why they continued to go to bars…Natasha had given up drinking like a good mother-to-be weeks ago.  She had confided the news to him with an attempt at a smirk that did nothing to hide the true happiness she was radiating.  Clint, always the faithful husband, had offered to go cold turkey as well.  So, as the couple sipped some horrible green tonic Bucky drank a single (overpriced, of course) local beer, screwed up his nose at the always-present trash-smell that blew in off the Potomac and began an existential crisis.  _What was he even doing with his life??_  

Was he going to be 60 and spending Saturdays around Nat and Clint’s dinner table surrounded by their kids then going back to an apartment with by then three cats??  He was up to date on every show he’d ever heard of.  He was so deep in the tumblr ocean that he knew all the memes months before they appeared in casual usage.  This was not how he’d pictured spending his adult free-time when he was a youth.

 

 

 

 

“Where on earth did all this even come from, Buck?” Becca mused while slowly stirring her Pho.  “I mean…yeah, you’ve always seemed a bit boring but…you’re old right?  Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?” She smirked before taking another bite.

“You’re right!  I AM old and boring.  What am I even doing with my life?  My best friends are married and popping out a kid and I’m just watching reruns of the Big Bang Theory every night with my cat.  I don’t even like the show!  It’s offensive to all engineers...I’m supposed to be _cool_ Becca.  You don’t remember because I shipped out when you were a little thing, but I was _cool_.”  Bucky knew he was whining, but screw it.  He spent every Sunday for the past 3 years since she’d moved down here to go to Georgetown listening to her complain, she could suck it up.

“Wow.  That was supposed to be a joke…I didn’t realize you were seriously upset about this.  What do adults even do in their free time?  Do you want to be married and pop out a kid?  They seem like kinda a commitment…” Becca trailed off in what was the understatement of the century. 

“No I don’t want a kid.  And I don’t want to be married!  Maybe.  I don’t know.  All I know is if I do the same thing every week for the next year I’m going to scream.”

“Maybe you _should_ get married…gettin’ some regularly would probably help with these extreme feelings of ennui.” Becca managed to wink with her mouth full of noodles.  “Have you ever considered grindr?  Maybe that would help with all your problems!”

“Becca!  I’m not talking about this with you.  You’re my baby sister.  It’s gross.”

“Okay, not grindr, but c’mon!  It’s DC!  I know you go out to those clubs sometime…have you ever been to Town?  I accidentally went once and let’s just say they were not particularly happy to see someone of my variety there.”

“Christ, of course I’ve been to Town.  I can’t believe you went there!”  Bucky was an Army sniper, he was not going to allow himself to blush at his kid sibling showing up at a notoriously raunchy boys bar.  He was _not_.  “Besides, I think this feeling is spilling over into relationships as well.  Guys either want a one-night thing, which I’m _perfectly happy with_ or they are looking for someone to marry and grow old with immediately.  I think I need to figure my deal out then hope I find a partner who fits into that.”

“Alright Bucky, love-life aside then: what makes you happy?” 

Bucky fixed her with his patented Unimpressed Face.

“I’m serious!  Okay, fine: what _used_ to make you happy?  What made you happy in high school, or during your time in the army, or even in college?”

“Hmm..high school: screwing around with my friends, scraping by without putting effort in, oh!  I used to play a bunch of sports.  I was never super great but I was good enough to be on teams.  That was always fun.  I liked all the weight lifting and being close with a group of guys…”

There was no way to stop the gleam in Becca’s eyes.  “I’m sure you did like being in a group of guys…tell me, do the ass-slaps happen as often in real life? Or was it the locker room that was the highlight?”

“Oh my god, you _perv_.  No.  It was just the feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself, having people who you feel a connection with to joke around with and spend time with…falling into bed every night physically exhausted.  I guess that feeling of belonging was even stronger in the Army, it was kinda nice being a cog in a well-oiled machine…that’s a bit extreme but I liked it, things made sense.”

“Hmm..maybe you could do that here?  There are lots of teams.  Oh!  Or join a gym!  That kid on my hall who always makes heart eyes at you told me about a ton of gyms by Dupont that are pretty much just pick-up places for dudes.  You could totally kill two birds with one stone!”

“Nooo, if I do this it isn’t to be a pick-up artist.” Bucky groaned and slouched down.  “Maybe there’s a gym with a bunch of veterans…It’d be nice to not have to answer questions or get stares about the arm.”

“Oh _crap_.  I always forget about that! It’s just so easy to forget…oh shit, did I just totally put my foot in it?” Becca looked a bit stricken.

Bucky felt the familiar lurch in his stomach before reassuring her it was fine and that he “forgot about it too” (all lies, but anything to get that look off her face).

They slurped their soup in silence for a little while people watching out the window. 

“Oh!” Becca dropped her chopsticks to face Bucky completely. “Do you remember I mentioned in that first year Intro to Psych class that there was a really hot psychologist from the VA who came to talk to us about his career?”

“That was two years ago, kid.  If I remembered every guy you ever mentioned because he was hot I would literally have no memory space left for anything else.”

“Ugh fine.  Well, I need to go back and look over it again but I vaguely remembered him talking about some ‘psychology-related’ projects that he advised for his friends…and I thought he mentioned something about some type of a gym for veterans.  I’m sure I kept the powerpoint, maybe that would be a good place to start?  If not you could always just email him…he seemed really into this whole ‘life coaching’ thing for veterans, I’m sure if the project he was talking about no longer exists he could put you in contact with someone.”

“Aww, my little sister!  Now you’re looking out for me!  We’ve truly come full circle.” He paused to ruffle her hair like she hated. 

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see if you actually end up contacting him at all or if I’m digging through my computer for nothing.”

“I promise.  If you go through the effort to send it to me I will at least look into it.” Bucky swore.

“Excellent, then you can pay me back by bringing me to Town!  Oh, or what about that one with the free vodka on Fridays!”

“Oh my _god_ , Becs, NO!  That is one outcome I can promise will not be happening.  Why do you even care about free vodka, you aren’t 21!”

“Alright…you can bring me on my 21st birthday in just under a year!  Perfect!”

Bucky groaned and managed to get through dinner, dropping her back off at her dorm, getting groceries and metro-ing back to his apartment with only a minor awkward encounter with Becca’s heart-eyed dorm-mate.  By the time he had fired up his computer to check his email before bed he saw that Becca had managed to find and already send him the promised slides. 

Hmmm…first things first he quickly googled the presenter: Sam Wilson, VA.  The first result was a career webpage for an ex-Air Force psychologist, very distinguished for his young age.  Well, he had to hand it to Becca.  If he hadn’t been so impressed with his list of military achievements “hot” _would_ be a pretty accurate descriptor. 

Bucky quickly clicked through the powerpoint to find the slide that Becca thought she remembered.  And there it was in all its glory: SHIELD, “A one-of-a-kind training experience for brave men and women.”  He snorted at the description and turned back to Sam’s career page.  At the bottom he found a section of projects and groups he was affiliated with, including a link to SHIELD.  The SHIELD website looked like a pretty standard gym website, except there wasn’t much info to go on.  There were a few pictures of a pretty standard looking weight room, and the trainers were all just listed by name…no pictures.  Under the “Membership and Plans” section all it said was “Inquire within” and an address with the business hours.

Well, the address was pretty damn convenient…right along the same metro line he took to and from work.  He decided he’d check it out tomorrow on his way home.

 

 

 

1800 Monday found him milling outside the same building he’d seen in the picture.  As he went to grab the door handle he caught sight of his reflection in the glass and paused.  He hadn’t really worked out more than the daily commute and his weekend walks in years.  He wasn’t _out_ of shape, or really he didn’t _look_ out of shape…he just wasn’t exactly in any shape to do real exercises.  He zoned back in to see that there was a guy who roughly resembled an excited golden retriever puppy on the other side of the glass, waving in his direction.  Bucky looked over his shoulder before realizing the guy must have been waving at him.  Embarrassing. 

_Suck it up, Barnes._ He ordered himself before readjusting the bag on his left shoulder and swinging the door open.  Besides, the overly enthusiastic greeting wasn’t necessarily an omen of bad things to come.

“Hello there!  So glad you decided to join us.  How might I be of service for you today?” The guy leaned over the counter and smiled at him.

There were a few things that Bucky hadn’t been able to discern about retriever-guy through the glass.  Namely that he had long, wavy blond hair pulled behind his head and that the guy was freaking _jacked._  He was wearing what might have once been a tight T-shirt whose sleeves had given up the ghost and abandoned the effort of trying to contain his biceps a long time ago.  _Jesus,_ Bucky was pretty confident his arm was bigger than the circumference of his head…

“Umm…I was looking for SHIELD gym?  This is the place, right?”

“Ah yes!  We are always looking for new members to join our team of warriors, this is indeed the place!  I am Thor, one of the co-owners of the gym.”

“Oh, well, I’m James but you can call me Bucky.  Nice to meet you.  Can I ask, what is SHIELD?”

“A great pleasure to meet you, Call-Me-Bucky!  Many years back the gym was started when a few of those returning from battle wanted to carve out a space for themselves.  The original owner is retired, but she likes to come and give the new recruits a dressing down for old-time sake every once in a while.”  Thor chuckled while gesturing the wall opposite them to a large picture of a woman in the smart British WWII uniform in a push-up competition with a large burly man, and clearly winning from the smirk she was sporting.

“Peggy Carter founded this gym?? _The_ Peggy Carter?” Bucky turned back to Thor while trying to pick his jaw up off the floor.

“Yes!  Do you know of her??  A truer warrior I have never met.” Thor beamed like a proud parent.

“I’ve never met her…but it’s a travesty that anyone wouldn’t know her name.  One of the best strategists of all time…helped break the Nazi’s codes…birthed one of the original international intelligence agencies…and she did all this while forcing open every door slammed in her face.”  He let out a low whistle while checking out her picture perfect push-up form.  “They definitely don’t make ‘em like her very often.”

Thor nodded his head.  “Indeed.  You might see her!  She came by just a few weeks ago to mock our newest trainer about how her grandmother had more life in her, ‘god rest her soul’.” He chuckled.  “Peggy and her wife don’t get to come by as frequently as they used to…but they try to get over every once in a while to survey their domain.” 

“Well, you had me at ‘Peggy Carter.’  What’s the deal with membership?  I’ll be honest…I haven’t really worked out regularly since, well…Afghanistan…now that I think about it.  You know?  But I’m wanting to get back into the swing of things.”

“A very noble task!  The bravest warrior is not the one that has never fallen, but the one who finds joy in climbing back up each time!”

“...sure?  Maybe let’s start in just trying to climb back up once, yeah?”

“Certainly!”  Thor exclaimed while slapping his hands down on the counter.  “Let me show you around and explain.”

Bucky trailed behind the giant of a man as he took him upstairs and showed him the open quintessential cardio room with the treadmills and elliptical machines.  At least this gym had the rows of machines facing floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over a tiny park.  Over the buildings in the distance he could see the Washington Monument.  That was nice at least…no staring at himself in a mirror.

Then a room in the back for classes and back to the main floor which held an impressive array of weights and machines.  Bucky noticed that there were also machines and equipment that he had seen in the Walter Reed PT room during his necessary time there.  Helpful.  There was a group of people lifting weights chatting, who stopped to smile at him and offer a wave that he quickly returned. 

“That’s our weekend run group.  They meet at random locations in the city and run together, all are welcome to join them!  That’s Sam, the leader, doing the curls.”  At hearing his name the man dropped the weights back on the rack and turned to face them.

No way…“Sam Wilson?”  Bucky asked.  Well, that would explain how he knew SHIELD…

“Yes...have we met?” Sam was now looking him up and raising a very expressive eyebrow.

“No, no.  My kid sister was in a class you taught at Georgetown and I only found out about this place because she sent me your powerpoint.”

“This is James, but you can call him Bucky!” Thor helpfully supplied.

Sam’s face split into a wide smile and he offered his hand to shake.  “Well isn’t that cute! I knew there was a reason I gave those lectures.  I can’t believe I’ve given them for the past 4 years and you’re the first person to show up here.  It’s nice to meet you!  We’re always happy for more Weekend Warriors.”

“Yeah…maybe I’ll work up to that…I’ve been kinda a bum and I haven’t really tried running since I had all four limbs, ya know?  Also, I pretty much despise running.”  Bucky huffed out a laugh.

“Mhmm…I know a little of what that’s like…” Sam replied with a slow grin as he pulled up his pant leg just far enough to reveal a prosthetic and a wink.  “That excuse might not exactly fly around here.”

He clapped Bucky on the shoulder with a squeeze before he turned back to the weights.  “We’ll see you this weekend, recruit!”

“But…I haven’t even signed up here yet!  Also, ‘recruit’?? I’m a Sergeant!”

“Hmm…it’s a shame I can’t hear anything you’re trying to say over how loud these weights are.”  Sam called out into the silent room.  “Thor, you should definitely show him the pool!”

“The pool!  I always forget it.” Thor exclaimed before leading Bucky away and into the basement.

 

“So, what do you think??  Ready to join us?” Thor asked while reaching into drawers, presumably for a contract of some sort.

“I’m not going to lie…I’m feeling like I’m trying to doggy-paddle in the deep end right now…”

“They’re all a good bunch!  Also, two things that might be important to know: first, you will be paired up with a trainer at the gym.  You’ll meet with him or her a couple of times a week to come up with some goals, test where you’re at right now and then come up with an achievable plan.  So you won’t just be hanging out alone.  Second, we have no long-term sort of contract.  We just start you up, no joining fees, and you pay as you go…weekly, monthly, however far out you want.  So you can give it a go and if it’s not the type of environment you’re benefitting from you have no obligation to stay.”  Well, Bucky thought, it was nice to have it phrased that way instead of ‘if you wimp out you can bail.’

“Also, here’s the weekly price for veterans, if that influences things.” Thor said as he wrote down a number and passed it over.  “This includes 24/7 access to our facilities and 2 training sessions a week…we also have classes and groups, like the Weekend Warriors, that you’re welcome to join at any time.”

That _did_ influence things.  There was no way he’d ever get a better deal.  Also, the gym gave him that twin feelings of being intimidated and wanting to prove himself that he thrived on in the Army.  As he took the pen from Thor he actually began feeling pretty excited and started thinking of buying some new sneakers to actually work out in. 

“Fantastic!  We’re so happy to have you Bucky!”  Thor beamed as he dealt with the paperwork.  “Would you like to come by tomorrow?  Maybe 1700?  One of our best trainers is looking for a new partner and I have a good feeling about this match.”  Bucky added it to his phone before waving to everyone and heading out.  Instead of flopping on the couch to watch his usual crap TV he actually spent the evening going through his shambles of workout clothes and vowing to go shopping at the next opportunity.

 

 

 

Work the next day went quickly and it felt like no time at all before he was pulling open the door to find Thor once again behind the desk at SHIELD with a woman dressed in workout clothes and brunette hair pulled into a high ponytail. 

“Bucky!  Right on time!”  Thor greeted with a wave and a clap on his shoulder.  Jesus...had his arms gotten larger since yesterday??  “This is Maria, one of our trainers.  Maria, this is our newest member Bucky.”  Thor introduced them with a hand gesture.

“Oh, hi!  Are you going to be my trainer?” Bucky asked while shaking her outstretched hand. 

Maria quickly looked him up and down before smirking at him.  “Oh, no…that’ll be Steve.  He should be right out!  However, I teach a handful of the classes, so if you stop by for those I’ll see you.”

The sound of a door closing down the hall caught Bucky’s attention and he couldn’t help but stare open mouthed at the figure approaching them.  Bucky couldn’t decide if he looked more like a Greek sculpture or a science experiment of the ideal male: blond hair adorably escaping it’s gel, a face that was a solid 10 and a body that rippled with so many muscles anatomy students could use him as a live model. 

_Jesus Christ._

Maria snorted.  “I know, right? _That’s_ your partner.”

Had he said that out loud?  Shit.

Wait…that was his trainer??  Double shit.

Maria looked positively gleeful as she waved the specimen over.  “Oh god, another one bites the dust,” she murmured under her breath before calling out, “Steve!  Come meet your new partner!”

“You must be Bucky!  It’s great to meet you.”  _Steve_ said as he clasped Bucky’s hand…god, his hand was so _warm_.  “As Maria says, I’m Steve.  Looks like we’ll be working with each other for the near future!”  Steve shot him a mega-watt smile and Bucky was honestly pretty proud his knees didn’t buckle from that deep voice.

Bucky just managed to nod and tried to look like a normal human.  Steve raised an eyebrow at him though so he wasn’t sure how successful he was.  Maria, like the traitor she _clearly_ was, badly hid another snort as a cough.

_Pull it together, Barnes!_ He ordered himself for the second time in as many days. 

“Bucky, how about you go get changed into your workout clothes then Cap here can drag you through the wringer to figure out your baseline levels.”  Maria helpfully supplied while gesturing to the locker room behind her. 

That shook Bucky out of his stupor.  “Captain? Army?”

But Steve just shook his head.  “No no, I was never in the services myself…it’s a long-ish story.  Basically I’m the only trainer here who wasn’t so they all like to remind me daily I’m not one of them because they’re assholes.” 

“That isn’t true!  Bucky, we call him Captain because ironically even though he is the only one who _wasn’t_ in the services he is the most hard-ass person here.  Definitely would have given my CO a run for his money.  Cap won’t let you get away with _any_ shit.”  Maria supplied with a thinly veiled look.

“Alright, enough scaring him.  Bucky, go get changed and meet me out here.”

“Sir, yes sir Captain.”  Bucky nodded, because being a pain in the ass was definitely something he could get on board with, and headed to take off his dress pants and loafers.

Back in the gym, now in his sneakers and workout clothes, he found Steve waiting for him at the desk.  “Alright, Bucky, here’s what’s going to happen: we’re going to see where you’re at then come up with a plan.  We’ll head upstairs first and check your cardio then come down here and assess your strength with a bunch of different lifts to your max, then we’ll go back upstairs for a cooldown.  Finally, we’ll sit down and come up with some goals.  Good?”  Bucky nodded in confirmation as Steve started leading him up the steps.  “Great, any health conditions I should keep in mind?”

“Well…I’m guessing you know by now that I’m missing an arm?”  Bucky also helpfully showed him the end of the stump that was visibly sticking out from beneath his short sleeve.  

Steve snorted.  “Alright, so you’re going to be trouble, good to know.  Alright, anything _specific_ involving the arm?  Lasting pain, extensive scarring, limited motion…things like that?”

“Not really.  There’s pretty standard scarring I suppose…I had a lot of nerve pain originally but that seems to have really gone down in the last few years.  I can pretty much swing it in an entire circle and I have pretty good mobility when I use it to help pick things up or hold things.”

“Perfect, thanks,” Steve replied as he made a note in his file.  They’d arrived at the treadmill and Bucky climbed on.  “Wait!  You _definitely_ need to stretch, especially if this is the first time you’re working out in years.”  Steve pointed out and directed him onto the floor next to the machine.  “Follow me through some simple ones.”

Bucky wanted to grumble about how he didn’t need it and he wasn’t _that_ out of shape, except the absolute screaming from his hamstrings as he followed Steve bending at the waist and trying to reach his toes suggested that he should probably shut up and listen to his trainer. 

Steve slowly led him though a routine of loosening up his legs and back followed by some arm circles.  Bucky was relieved to find that Steve instructed him what to do and showed him, but then allowed Bucky to figure out how to adjust the move on his own to take his balance or lack of arm into account, only making slight prodings to help him stabilize himself.  It was nice change that he wasn’t watering down the moves or taking control. 

Finally Steve straightened up and clapped his hands.  “Alright!  Get on up here.”  He turned to start fusing with the controls as Bucky followed suit and hopped up onto the tread. 

“Ready?”  Bucky grunted in response.  “We’re going to start you at a jog pace for about ten minutes to warm up then I’m going to increase the speed until you’re really feeling it.  Then we’re going to see how long you can hold that.  Got it?”

_Ten minutes_ as a _warm-up?_ Shit.  He was going to _die_. 

Apparently he was making a face.  “Bucky, this is just base-line.  Do the best you can and we’re going to build from there, okay?”

“Alright, start it up.”

“You got it Sarge.”  Steve winked at him as he pressed start.

“You know, that isn’t the nickname for Sergeant…no one actually uses that.”  Bucky distracted himself from the slowly speeding up treadmill by sassing back.

“Well, they call me Cap and I’m definitely not a Captain…so I’m pretty sure Sarge is fair game.”

_Jesus_.  Bucky was barley going faster than walking before he remembered how much he hated running.  He had hated running before and now without his arm he felt unbalanced and totally ridiculous. 

Steve watched his face before plateauing the speed and obviously starting a timer for ten minutes. 

Bucky was pretty sure this was slower than a normal jog speed for most people, but as he was already feeling short of breath he gave up trying to preserve his self-esteem.  Besides, Steve was most definitely straight, so there was no point trying to keep up a façade in front of him.

After a few minutes his breathing got louder and louder.  He felt the sweat starting to bead at his hairline.  All he could focus on was trying to keep his feet moving and stay balanced on the machine.  Soon he was red in the face and he could feel the sweat starting to bead at his hairline.  “Alright, feeling it?” Steve inquired while making a note of the pace.  Bucky didn’t bother with more than a stare back and a slightly louder huff of air.

“Have you ever tried a prosthetic?”  Steve asked seemingly out of nowhere.

Bucky gave a quick nod of his head then ended up shaking it then had to readjust his location as he found himself migrating towards to the edge of the track.

“Alright…so you…did try it?  Kinda?  What was the problem?”

“Tried…didn’t like…felt weird…work.”  Bucky forced out between breathes.  “Why?”

“Well, just because your balance is a bit off for running…maybe a prosthetic would help?”

“Don’t…run.”

“Says the running man.” Steve smirked at his notes to glance up and see Bucky leveling him with his patented Murder Stare.  Though the effect was probably ruined due to the coursing sweat rivulets and his face’s imitation of a fire truck.  Steve’s smirk managed to spread into full-blown smile at that, “Ha, look at that glare!  Adorable!”

_What the hell?_

“Here, see how your steps are different lengths on each side?  It’s because you’re getting different amounts of propulsion with arm swings…your left arm isn’t there so you are trying to overcompensate with your right…”  Well…he had a point.  “Try doing the opposite: use what you have on the left and really swing it as far forward and back as you can and try to limit your right arm swing to maybe 3-4 inches in front and then again in back.”  Steve pointed out while trying to demonstrate.

Well…damn. That actually _was_ a lot better.  That seemed to stop the crazy pendulum spinning of his upper body and it definitely felt less like a human disaster.

“Nice!  Very nice.  That looks much better.  Keep that going for four more minutes!”

After what felt like half an hour Steve began cranking up the speed. 

“C’mon, focus on your upper body swings and keep your feet light.”  Steve coached while Bucky couldn’t even bother fixing him with a stare.  After he was forced to sprint until Bucky was positive his heart was about to explode, probably around 3 hours later, Steve finally slowed the treadmill to a walk then threw a towel at Bucky before leading him downstairs. 

Even though Bucky was no longer as visibly muscular as he had been during his active duty it was clear that he had maintained a pretty good amount of his strength when they got to the weights.  Steve didn’t make any smart ass remarks or display any facial expressions as they went through the exercises, so Bucky was pretty sure the trainer was impressed with how much he could still lift, even with one arm out of commission. 

Bucky’s smugness started to fade when Steve had him in the empty classroom, white knuckling his way through round after round of sit-ups while Steve stood on his toes and counted them off.  Steve at least let him collapse back onto the floor for a few minutes before hauling him upright and forcing him onto a seated bike to spin for 10 minutes to cool his body down and more stretching. 

Once back downstairs Steve took him into a tiny office in the back.  There were two desks facing out into the room and a chair set between them.  Steve motioned Bucky to sit in the chair and then moved around to sit at the desk.  The tiny office was made up for by the wall behind Steve’s desk being plastered with pictures of various sporty looking events.  There were plenty of people who didn’t reappear in pictures (previous trainees?) but a large picture of Steve and Sam with their arms around each other with numbers pinned onto their shirts was obviously given the place of honor.

  “You trained Sam?” Bucky asked while slowly letting his breathing get back down to normal.

“Oho, _au contraire_.  Sam trained me.  Used to be just a little pile of asthmatic bones but Sam helped me get into running and encouraged me to go to PT school once upon a time.”

“There is no way you were ever a little pile of bones.”

“No really, I was.  Sam convinced me to start taking yoga during high school and trying to get more in tune with myself.  Then we started running together once I was able to get steroid injections that helped control my asthma.  Unfortunately that was about when Sam got deployed…I’m pretty sure that even with the encouragement he wasn’t expecting to show back up at home with me looking like this.  Sam mentioned how you met to me, I hope you don’t mind.”  Bucky shook his head.  “Alright, well that was about…200% more than I normally talk about myself during these things, sorry, so let’s talk about you.  You showed up here for some reason: what are your goals?”

“Goals?  I don’t know…I wouldn’t say they’re lofty enough to be goals.  If I’m being honest I just feel like trying something new, shaking up the routine I’ve got going on.  Or maybe just a way to try to get back to where I was.”

“Well,” Steve drug out as he started spinning a pen, “that’s all well and good, but wouldn’t you like to have something you’re actively working for as well?”

“Does it matter?  I pretty much just want to show up, make some friends and be able to get a drink just from flexing my arms again…erm, well, at least the one, you know?”

“What happens when you make this a new routine and then you get stuck in a rut all over again?  You said you want to switch things up…changing focuses and setting new goals is a great way to make sure that you 1) have the motivation to pull through and 2) will get a sense of accomplishment that leads you to set new goals and then the loop cycles.”

“Okay, what?  Like a goal weight to lift?”

“Sort of…but let’s make it bigger!  For example, if you really want to focus on lifting and muscle building you could sign up for an amateur weight lifting competition.  Maybe you want to learn how to become a good bike rider…then we could set you up with a century ride.  Get it?”

            “Alright…you saw where I’m at today…what do you suggest?”

 

 

 

            And that is how when Bucky dragged himself and a pizza into his apartment that evening he was signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon that coming fall, about 6 months away.  Bucky felt a little bad that Winter was going to spend so much of her evenings alone now, but she seemed pretty perky after some extra rubs before curling up in his lap while he ate the pizza slice over her. 

            He only stayed up for a little bit checking his websites before he got ready and pulled Winter into bed with him.  He reached his hand above him to pop his back before he settled down and felt the no-longer-familiar tension left over in muscles after a hard workout and knew he was going to struggle out of bed in the morning.  Even if he survives the marathon he’s not sure he’ll survive one Steve Rogers.  Even as he could still feel the twinges from today he could not wait to get back to the gym to see what color his next inappropriately tiny T-shirt would be.

 

 

* * *

 

**If you can run 5K, you can run 10K**

The next day work flew by again and before Bucky knew it he was being handed his training plan from a beaming Steve.  Bucky just paged through it briefly: something written for pretty much every day, with Fridays off at least.  He’d been worried that with his new running goal it was only going to be running…but he was happy to see that there were plenty of weight days with a “long run” on Saturdays and an option to either run with the Weekend Warriors or do a short run on Sunday.  Looking through the times and distances it seemed actually doable…his schedule would definitely be full for the next half a year, but that was the point. 

After flipping through the packet that lay out his next couple of months he looked up at Steve.  “So, are you doing all this with me?”

“Oh!  Well, no.  I only work at the gym on weekdays.  And you don’t need me to be here for all your workouts…we’ll plan to meet once or twice a week, maybe one of your weight days and one of your running days.”

“If you’re not keeping track of me how will you know if I’ve been keeping to the schedule? Maybe I need some extra attention…” Bucky looked up at the blonde under his eyelashes in a move that generally worked to get whatever he wanted. 

“Ha.  Nice try.  I’ll know.  If you don’t stay on track with your daily workouts then you will be totally out of shape for our weekly one-on-ones.  Didn’t Maria warn you not to pull any shit on me?  Pretty early in the game for ducking out of sessions, Buck.”

 Bucky sighed internally and followed Steve back to the dreaded treadmill to warm up before Steve brought him through a cycle of different speeds and inclines for the day.  At least Steve seemed to like the one-sided flirting equally to Bucky’s mumbling and mute nodding of the first time they met.  Bucky could do flirting.  Hell, Bucky _thrived_ on flirting.  He was still pretty out of breath for most of the workout, but he did pride himself on a few well-timed, zinging one-liners that had Steve throwing his head back, laughing from somewhere deep in his chest.  _That_ was almost as much of an accomplishment as walking to the locker room with no perceptible limp after just under a twenty minutes of running.

 

 

 

Since he had spent both Tuesday and Wednesday that week with Steve when he showed up on Thursday he realized that he was going to be on his own for the first time.  To his (pathetic) relief as soon as he changed and went through his warm-up on the treadmill Sam called him over to lift together.  Sam was the ideal workout partner.  Not only was he knowledgeable and offered to help spot on any lift, but he was actually a nice person with a great sense of humor.  Bucky also thought it was likely they’d keep running into each other since they seemed to be on the same gym schedule. 

Unfortunately, he only got to see Steve as he led his training partner around the gym after an initial wave (Bucky was electing to ignore the swooping feeling in his stomach at being acknowledged…he was a grown man for Christ’s sake).  Today it was a woman with long blonde hair tied into a bun with military precision and a body that honestly didn’t need to see the inside of a gym for a looong time. 

He tried not to stare too much but honestly what did anyone expect when he was trying to do one-armed-curls in front of the mirror with a perfect view of Steve’s powerful thighs and butt flexing from behind as he showed his charge a modified squat.  He was pretty sure he got away with it until he caught the eyes of said statuesque woman over Steve’s falling shoulders in the mirror and she mouthed “I know, right?” and threw him a wink.

_Jesus Christ._   Was there anyone at this gym who wasn’t getting a laugh at his expense?

He hurriedly turned his eyes back to watch his bicep move with exaggerated focus only to catch Sam chuckling and shaking his head next to him.

It had only taken four days and he felt like he was already the joke of the gym.  _Classic_.  This was _definitely_ karma for telling Becca that he had no intention of hitting on someone at the gym.

At least he had to lie back on the bench to do chest presses and he didn’t have to catch sight of his flaming face in the mirror.  He studiously avoided Sam’s eyes and delighted grin while he counted out reps.

When Bucky mentioned to Sam that he wouldn’t be in the next day, since Friday was his “day off” Sam refused to let him leave until he swore to show up to run that weekend.  After they exchanged numbers and Bucky promised a second time to be at the Lincoln Monument at 0800 ( _why did all these runners like early times??)_ he quickly showered off and headed out by the front desk. 

He resolutely did _not_ slow down his walk or crane his head around when he only saw Maria sitting at the counter. 

“Are you looking for someone Bucky?  I’m pretty sure Steve’s still in the weights.” She called to him with (what had become) her signature brow raise.

_Damn it.  So much for subtlety.  Couldn’t anyone let him keep his dignity??_ He pretended to look for something in his bag to hide his blush and headed towards the exit.

“Hey, hey!  Bucky, c’mon man, come back here…”  Bucky sighed before turning around to head back to the desk.  “I’m just pulling your leg.  If it makes you uncomfortable I can always stop.  Look, you’re more subtle than most of Steve’s ducklings around here… _look to the sample exhibit A at your 7 o’clock_.”  Maria added in an undertone.

They both turned to watch a lithe but very strong looking dude attempting to spray and wipe down the bench he was using while watching Steve out of the corner of his eye.  Unfortunately for him Steve was showing his trainee the perfect posture for an Olympic lift.  They all watched as Steve threw the heavy barbell above his head and stood upright with a grunt, biceps and back shifting and bulging underneath his shirt. 

The poor sap accidentally sprayed himself in the face in his distraction and choked.

“Yeah, alright…I feel better knowing it’s not only me…” He shared a conspiratorial smile with Maria.

“Pfft!  Only you??  Sam estimates that a quarter of our customers would disappear if he were to quit…I’m pretty sure it’s closer to a third though.”

“Ha.  Well, I don’t know how you can work with him all day…did the novelty just wear off on you?”

“How presumptuous of you Barnes.  No, I already have a muscular blonde, I don’t need another.”  Her voice softened as she spoke and as if on cue Steve’s ripped trainee turned to throw a wink at the desk before heading towards the showers.  Maria answered with an obnoxiously loud air kiss and that made her girl break out in a grin.  “Alright Bucky, that’s my cue.  Now get outta my gym so I can go home!”

Bucky just threw her the sloppiest military salute of his life while backing out the door.

“Good grief, disgraceful!  Thank god your CO isn’t around.  You’d be on KP duty for the rest of your days.”  Maria shook her head as she gathered up her stuff.

Yeah.  He’d _definitely_ struck gold with this gym.

 

 

 

His handy schedule informed him that his first Saturday he was supposed to run 2 miles by himself.  Two miles.  That’s really not bad…he definitely ran further than that on the treadmill twice now.  He planned to go in the middle of the morning once he finished his usual lie in with his fur-baby and finally got himself ready and out the door.

He did the stretches Steve had shown him, feeling only slightly awkward doing them as pedestrians passed.  After he allowed himself to walk for a block…then another block…then another he forced himself to finally start running.  Except running on the street was nothing like running on the gym treadmill. 

There were people _everywhere_.  They must all be watching him.  He was so caught up in what was going on that he couldn’t get his arms swinging the way he wanted and he felt like he kept getting tripped up.  _Oh god_.  Everyone was going to watch him fall.  How fucking embarrassing would that be??  Also with his luck it would be A Thing and then people would think he needed help…as his mind raced through every potential bad outcome he started to feel short of breath.  Way too early in the run for him to be breathing this hard, he knew it was just panic…but he couldn’t get it under control.  If people weren’t watching him before they were _definitely_ watching him now.  What a spectacle!  A one-armed man wobbling wildly through a run with arms going crazy huffing and puffing up a storm.  _How had this become his life._   At least his cat wouldn’t judge him. 

It would be best to just slowly stop running.  Yes!  That was the perfect plan. 

_Nothing to see here!_ He mentally told the people he passed as he slowly stopped, _my plan is to do very, very short runs, I’m actually so good that I’m just running short distances now._   He walked to the end of the street before turning back and calmly walking back to his apartment, throwing his stuff in the closet and taking a shower.  He couldn’t face lying to his cat (that was low, even for him) so he complained loudly to her about it while confirming the nights plans with Nat and Clint through texts. 

 

The next morning at 8am he stared down at his phone as it rang incessantly on his nightstand.  Of course.  And _of course_ Sam was the type of person to hang up and call immediately after repeatedly so that he got no relief until he picked up the phone.

“I’m not coming.”

“Are you in a tunnel?  I think you’re breaking up…did you say you’re on your way?”

“What?? NO, I’M NOT COMING.”  Bucky all but screamed into the phone.

“Can’t hear you…wanna try again?” God damn it, Bucky was being played. He could hear Sam’s stupid smirk through the phone.

“Ugh, this is totally your thing, right?  Only hearing me when I say what you want to hear.”

Sam was definitely smiling now.  “It took the man less than a week, ladies and gents.  Give him a cookie!”

“Fine, I don’t think I can manage to run with the group…I tried to do my run yesterday and I had a meltdown about people watching me.”

“Well, _duh._   What did you expect?  Do you know how many times I attempted to go running before I actually made it out after I lost my leg?  Or how many months it took before I dared wearing shorts no matter how damn hot summer in DC was?”

“…you’re not going to let me out of this are you?” Bucky mused as he started to resign himself to getting out of bed.

“Nope!” Sam replied happily.  “Get your ass down here stat.  We’re going to leave the monument at 9 o’clock sharp, so you have a little under an hour to get dressed and here before the group runs to your apartment and starts pounding up and down the stairs.”

“Fine.  I’m coming.  Wait, nine?  What happened to eight??”

“Well, eight for you…let’s just say I might have suspected that you were going to try and weasel out of it.”

“Alright, I guess I can’t even complain because you were right.  But still…jerk move.”

Sam just blew a raspberry through the phone at him before yelling “45 minutes!” before hanging up.

Bucky dropped the phone and caught Winter’s annoyed scowl at being disturbed.  “I know, sugar.  What even is my life anymore?” Bucky mumbled to her with a quick head scratch as he forced himself out of bed. 

It turns out that running with a group really was a totally different experience.  They were a motely crew…Sam, another nice looking older black man also missing a leg, a young vet with haunted looking eyes and her brother who joined them every weekend.  There was also a set of three extremely boisterous men who joined up with them right before they headed out.

Bucky actually had a pretty fun time running with them, not a phrase he ever thought he’d us, but there it was.  It was a loop of a couple of miles around the National Mall, swinging passed each monument.  Any time a tourist was looking a little too long and Bucky began to feel unbalanced Sam or another member of the group would engage him in conversation or make a wildly inappropriate joke until all his energy was spent on trying to laugh and breathe at the same time.  It also didn’t hurt that they all went for coffee afterward to continue shooting the shit.

 

 

 

Thankfully Bucky just had another weight day on Monday and his next running day was scheduled for his meeting with Steve on Tuesday.  To Bucky’s relief Steve walked them over to a local high school track.  There were a few straggler kids on the bleachers and a few people throwing a football back and forth, but most of the other people were busy with their own activity and didn’t even bother looking up at them. 

It wasn’t until after they stretched and had started their first laps that Steve asked how his weekend runs went.  So Bucky waxed poetic about the Weekend Warriors and how he was honestly looking forward to seeing them next Sunday, which Steve seemed very impressed with.  He was so impressed that they chatted about that for the rest of their session.  Bucky relayed funny tidbits from the day until he could no longer talk comfortably.  Luckily Steve took over and spent the rest of their run telling Bucky stories about all the running partners and the ill-advised situations they had found themselves in over the years.  Including when the “Howling Commandos,” the three boisterous partners-in-crime who came late, had referred to the Air Force as the “Chair Force” for about a month before they realized that two members of the group were from said service.  Bucky threw himself off balance with the unexpected laughter that story caused.

It wasn’t until the post-run stretches that Steve finally got back to the avoided topic.

“So Bucky, you mentioned quite a lot about your Sunday run, which I’m very happy to hear.  But how did your Saturday run go?”

“Not great.  In fact it didn’t really go, to be totally honest.”  It wasn’t until he finished the current stretch and found Steve waiting in silence that he realized he wouldn’t be able to get out of explaining.  “Ugh, it’s so stupid.  I don’t even know why it was such a big deal.  But I got ready, planned out my route and then got really overwhelmed feeling like everyone was looking at me and pitying me.  I just got really wrapped up in my own head and couldn’t remember my form and ended up calling it early.”

“Your form looked great today though…it looked totally second nature; you really weren’t off-kilter at all.”

“Yeah, I know.  I was able to work on it with the Sunday group.  I don’t know…it sounds contradictory but being able to focus on what the group was doing made it easier to get out of my own head and let my body do its thing, you know?”

“Hmm…how was running with me today?”

“Same as Sunday.  I mean…I’m hot and sweaty and definitely hate you for making me finish that last lap I wanted to blow off…but it was actually kinda nice.”  Bucky smiled at him over his out-stretched leg.  “Just spending time goofing around with a buddy while we happen to jog doesn’t feel as monumental as forcing myself out alone…I can’t explain it.”

“Alright then, it’s decided!  I’ll join you on your Saturday runs.”  Steve declared standing up and brushing off the grass stuck to the back of his legs.

“Wait, what?  You don’t need to do that…you already spend a lot of time with me…and you don’t work on the weekends, you already said.”

“Well, yeah.” Steve extended his hand to help him up.  “Didn’t I tell you?  I signed up for the marathon too…I’ll just do my long runs with you instead of alone.  It’s no problem.  Besides, sometimes I get bored and could use a running buddy when they last over an hour or two anyways.”

“If you’re sure…don’t worry about telling me to leave you alone if I start driving you crazy and you want some alone time though…” Bucky couldn’t help worrying on his bottom lip as he grabbed his stuff. 

Steve smiled at him.  “Alright, that’s the agreement.  We’re only running buddies until I get sick of you, or likewise you get sick of me.”

“Hmmm…this doesn’t seem like a good deal….what if I never get sick of you?”

Steve laughed before responding, “then I guess we’ll be running buddies until we’re so old that we bring our walkers out to the track, yeah?” before grabbing his shoulder and gently encouraging him to head back to the gym.  Bucky could live with that.  Bucky could definitely live with that…he just hoped that Steve would continue to wear his trainer’s uniform on the weekends as well.

 

(Bucky was wrong…when Steve went running on his free time he ditched his training uniform for the tiniest, shortest pair of running shorts that Bucky had ever seen…leaving miles of thick corded muscle on display.  Thank _god_ Bucky had opted for a layer of compression shorts the first day or things would have gotten real awkward, real fast.  This was probably Steve’s plan all along, Bucky thought as the blonde stood smirking at his open jawed expression upon opening the door…Bucky would run until his legs wouldn’t work anymore as long as that brightly-colored bouncing ass was a few feet ahead of him.)

 

 

* * *

 

**Running your first Half-Marathon for the 10K runner**

After the first week at SHIELD everything fell into place and soon Bucky began to actually be glad for his Fridays off, as he was now so busy with everything during the rest of the week that he was able to crash on the couch catching up on his shows without a trace of guilt.  People at work had mentioned to him a few times that he was looking really good, and he’d even had a far removed co-worker awkwardly attempt to ask him out.  But mostly people asked if he had started seeing someone since it was now commonplace to see him humming to himself happily in the hallway and smiling in the elevator heading home.

Was he seeing someone?  Yes and no.  He was certainly spending a _lot_ of time with a certain blonde muscular beefcake, but he was pretty sure it was all platonic.  Ever since the dam had broken Bucky continued with his low-level flirting throughout the majority of the training sessions.  Not enough to make a scene though and he definitely would have backed off if Steve had shown any indication of being uncomfortable.  Steve, however, did not seem to be uncomfortable.  In fact, Steve seemed to laugh the loudest and have the most genuine smile whenever Bucky would feed him increasingly terribly pick-up lines throughout the weeks.

In all his non-Steve-time at the gym he (stealthily) observed Steve interacting with his other trainees…but Bucky didn’t see much flirting, or any flirting going on at all.  To be fair it seemed like most people were happy just watching him with heart-eyes instead of openly flirting, so Steve was most likely just really great at not insulting the patrons and humoring Bucky.  Also that Blonde Bun Woman, alias Maria’s Partner, also now alias Sharon though that was her real name and not really an alias, was definitely on a similar gym schedule and still winked at him every time she caught him staring at her trainer, _awkward_.  But now they knew each other’s names and waved to each other in greeting, so he knew it was friendly ribbing instead of open mocking. 

But even though Bucky definitely regarded Steve as his trainer during his sessions they were definitely becoming fast friends on their weekends.  It turns out that spending hours upon hours running with someone gives you a chance to learn tons of things about them.  Like how similar their childhoods were and the fact that growing up they had the same comic books smuggled under their beds.  Or how Bucky felt he could explain his deep-seated distain for certain TV shows that were not only taking over his TV guide but also over his tumblr.  Or the extreme extent of GI distress and which particular flavors of energy gel didn’t sit well with either of them (to be honest he’d have been happy _never knowing that, ever_.) 

Saturdays quickly turned into his favorite day of the week.  Most days (when the weather was good and they had a great route planned) he actually had started looking forward to and enjoying their run.  And then after they were done it was not uncommon for them to grab a light lunch or dinner (depending on what time they went out) or even to go over to the other’s apartment and watch a few episodes of a TV show so Bucky could prove his theories.  Winter didn’t even mind when they were both disgusting, so there was that at least.  She might have liked Steve even more when he was all gross from running…apparently a sweaty Steve elicited positive reactions from every creature he encountered.

 

 

 

“Damn Bucky, I think all that time at the gym is really starting to work for you.  Wait, flex for me, I wanna see your guns.”  Natasha exclaimed when she and Clint met up with Bucky and Becca for dinner.  Bucky released her from the hug so he could flex his arm and she let out a low whistle as she felt how firm it was.  “ _Damnnnn_!  That’s about what it looked like when you were in, yeah?  Your hugs are like a throwback…I’m afraid you’re going to pick me up without even realizing it.”

“Bigger!  I’m actually able to curl about 10 pounds more right now than I ever was when I was in.”  Bucky couldn’t help but brag.  Hey, he’d been working his ass off for about a third of a year now, he had earned a little vanity.  “Also, check out these babies!”  He lifted up his shirt while simultaneously flexing his core.

“Holy shit dude!  You’re about to start looking like one of those asshole actors.  I can definitely see that definition even from across the table.” Clint complimented while his wife inappropriately groped their friend’s bare stomach and made awed noises. 

“I’m actually the opposite.  Jesus, look how big I’ve gotten.” Natasha commented while gesturing to her impressively large belly and settling back into a chair.

“I know!  What a difference us missing each other on our standard weekend get-together for two weeks in a row does, huh?” Bucky mused.

“Yeah, you become a porn-star and I become a bowling ball.”

“Well, you look great Nat.” Bucky smiled at her, “I always thought people were joking about the whole ‘glowing’ thing, but you really are!  I can’t help but be happy at how good you look.”

“Well Nat, to be totally honest Bucky has been smiling pretty much non-stop for a few months now…” Becca added as she took a sip of her drink because she was a _brat._

“Thank _god_ you could meet us Becca!  Bucky here has been uncharacteristically silent about things.  You gotta fill me in on all the fun gossip.”

“Becca, Nat, can we please not do this?  I’m sure that your kind, supportive husband here would appreciate a dinner free from gossip or girl-talk.” Bucky nodded to Clint who frantically shook his head like that was the _last_ thing he wanted. 

“Not gonna work Barnes, we’re outta the house, Nat’s not feeling sick and I’m here to live vicariously through your life.  Spill!”

Bucky just groaned and motioned for the waitress.  Why was there never anyone to take your order when you were desperately trying to avoid a conversation??

“Is this all still your trainer?  Or have you developed a second debilitating crush in the time we’ve been gone?” Natasha interrogated as she began shoving a piece of bread in her mouth in a very un-ladylike fashion.  Bucky just narrowed his eyes at her.  “What is his name anyways?”

“ _Steve_!” Becca and Clint answered in unison.

“ _Steeeeeve_.” Nat slowly rolled his name around in her mouth while raising her eyebrows.  “He sounds like a very wholesome man by what you’ve told me.  And I’m guessing he’s pretty damn hot since he has you like a thirteen-year-old with a crush on a teacher.” 

“Oh god, why are we doing this?” Bucky slowly lowered his head to the table.

“ _Because_!  You’ve been ‘seeing’ this guy in some capacity for about four months, which is approximately 16-times longer than anyone else and we STILL have yet to meet him.” She reasoned.

“ _Seeing him_?? Nat, he’s my _gym trainer._ I literally _pay him_ to spend time with me and show me how to work out.  And I’d say I’m clearly getting my money’s worth.”

“You spend half the weekend with him too!  I think you’re outside the bounds of trainer/trainee interactions.  And, are you honestly saying you wouldn’t bang him like a screen door in a hurricane if he even so much as suggested?”

“Natasha!  Number one, _my baby sister is at dinner with us._   Number two, obviously I would.  He’s literally a god walking amongst men.  But alas, I am a mere mortal, so we’re just going to train together for the next two months and then if he wants to keep running and seeing me at the gym I’ll thank my lucky stars I get that much….happy?”

Natasha looked anything but happy however she relented to changing the topic.

 

 

 

It wasn’t until that following Thursday when he and Steve were doing some stretches at the nearby track that Bucky realized his error.  His critical error.  His error that was approximately the shape of a sphere with legs that was slowly working her way around _their_ track with another, slightly smaller error in Ray Bans. 

_Oh Christ on a cracker._

Avoidance was obviously the best tactic.  He stared resolutely at the ground over his outstretched leg while he tried to come up with a reasonable excuse to get out of doing sprints with Steve today in favor of another long run, preferably in any direction that didn’t involve the track.  Maybe they could escape before his giggling ( _shit_ , they were close enough that he could hear their giggling), obvious spies wouldn’t see him. 

“Oh my goshhhhh, _Bucky?_   Is that you?  I had _no idea_ this was where you worked out, what a small world!”  Nat’s shrill cries broke into his plot-forming followed by a peal of Becca’s laughter.

“Yeah Nat…a really small world.  Especially since I know you don’t work or live anywhere NEAR this neighborhood.  And _you_ , you brat, go to school two metro transfers from here.” Bucky pointed out from his spot on the ground.  “How many high schools have you been visiting before you found us, you creeps?”

“Oh Bucky, _Bucky._   Do you know how good walking is for pregnancy?  The best exercise!  Especially since I’ve had to abandon my kick-boxing classes.  Your sister is such a saint to meet up with me and help out.”

“Yeah, a real _fucking_ saint.  There are at least three saints rolling over in their graves right now at being put in the same category as that damn smirking face.”  Bucky finally relented and turned to Steve who had been watching with badly concealed interest from the ground next to him.  “Let’s get this over with.  Steve, this is Nat, the pregnant one obviously, and my kid sister Becca…apparently playing hookie from class just to come annoy me.  You two, this is Steve.”

Steve’s warm smile was the polar opposite to Bucky’s bitch face as he kindly shook their hands in turn.  “Natasha, it’s so nice to meet you!  You look fantastic!  And Becca, definitely a pleasure to meet you.  I’ve heard so much about both of you over the past few months, it’s so fun being able to now put a face to a name.”

“Oh and we have heard _so much_ about you as well!” Nat’s smile turned shark-like as Becca shook his hand.  “Were you guys just getting started?  We definitely didn’t mean to interrupt, we were just finishing ourselves.  It’s a bit hot out though…maybe we’ll go sit on that shaded bench over there for a few minutes and catch our breath before we head out.”

_Of fucking course._

Steve looked over to where Nat was indicating.  “Oh!  That bench had a huge puddle on it from last night’s downpour…I don’t think you’ll want to sit there. Hmmm…”

_Finally,_ a win from the universe! “Well darn ladies, that is _just too damn bad._ ” Bucky had to reel in his smile at Natasha’s immediate pouting.

Their stare-down was interrupted by Steve.  “How about this?  It’s really hot out, I’ll just mop it up with my shirt, yeah?  Come on, right this way, _m’ ladies_.”  Steve had already started pulling the shirt over his head and wandering towards the bench before Bucky could realize what happened.

 “Steve.  Stop.  You _definitely_ don’t need to do this…they’re playing you!  _Don’t you see_!”  He went to reach for his shirt back and stopped himself just before he accidentally stroked that perfectly defined back muscle… _he was going to die._ They were all going to die with this display.

“Bucky! Your friend is pretty pregnant and, as a trainer, it is honestly a bit too hot for me to be comfortable with her sitting in the sun after she was working out.  It really is no problem…you know I do plenty of my runs shirt-less anyways.”

  “Oh _do you_?” Natasha mentioned as she caught up to them, looking like Christmas had come early.  “ _Wow_ Steve…Bucky had always mentioned that you were a great trainer, but he never told me what a complete gentleman you are!”

Steve scoffed.  “Well, I’m glad he thinks I’m a good trainer…sometimes I feel guilty for taking his money when he’s so much fun to be around, you know?”

Natasha looked over her shoulder at Bucky and tried to send him a significant look which he ignored.  She tutted and turned back to Steve who had reached the edge of the field and was starting to mop up the bench. “You’re _definitely_ a good trainer.  Look how freaking _good_ Bucky looks!  There is literally nothing subjective about that muscle definition.”

 “ _Natasha!”_ Bucky hissed at her.  He thought he had known what game she was playing but now he was feeling off-kilter…

Steve turned to appraise him and slowly dragged his eyes up and down the length of his body before meeting his eyes.  Bucky returned his stare long enough to feel even more naked than Steve which was ridiculous as Steve was literally half clothed.  But before Bucky could think of a witty response Steve turned to Natasha.  “Well, he always looked good…but you’re right, now that you mention it I can definitely see the proof of my job well done.  Bench is dry ladies, and _you_ get over to the starting line.”  Steve slapped his hand on the seat before heading back to the track. 

 Becca barely contained her giggles before sitting with Natasha ( _Jesus_ , Bucky had forgotten she was even there) and Bucky just shook his head at their twin smug expressions before turning to follow Steve. 

Steve led them through a grueling set of sprints of varying lengths and other exercises to work on their running technique.  And just as Bucky suspected, every time they passed their audience they could expect some version of a cat-call or cheering.  Bucky wanted to be annoyed but found their good mood contagious.  At least until he overheard Nat discussing the pros and cons of licking the sweat dripping down Steve’s abs.  Because _come on._   Everyone wants to do that, but you don’t _say that when he can hear you_.  Amateur fucking move, Romanov. 

 

 

The peanut gallery kept it up until they finally waved their goodbyes and Bucky gave an answering middle finger salute to Natasha miming him calling her later during their cool down. 

“Well, I don’t know if I should be flattered or horrified.” Steve remarked as he retrieved his shirt and wiped his face in the still damn fabric.  “Do you think I did okay?”

“Are you kidding me??  Becca looked like she had seen the face of god and Natasha was being raunchy enough to make me physically uncomfortable.  I’d say you definitely won.”

“Ah, well.  I can’t help wanting to make a good impression.  They’re important to you!  And you’ve become one of my closest friends…so of course I didn’t want to let them down.”

Bucky tried and failed to clamp down on the happy fluttering in his chest.  “Really?  You’re one of my closest friends too…I mean, if we’re going on statistics you’re probably the closest seeing as I spend more time with you than anyone else.  Well, except Winter, but you know she comes first.”

“Of course she does, as she should!  Well then.  I’m glad that we’ve killed three birds with one stone: the workout, meeting Natasha and traumatizing your little sister.”

Traumatizing? “Wait, Steve, you did the opposite of traumatize her.  She’s probably writing your name and little ‘Mrs. Steve Rogers’ in her notebook as we speak.”

Steve just looked horrified at the prospect.  Bucky had finally found a way to make him speechless.  “Well…I promise that wasn’t my intention…I promise I don’t bat for that team.”

What?! “ _What?!_ ” The filter between Bucky’s brain and mouth must have been fried from the sprinting in the heat.  “You’re not on grindr, I’ve never seen you show up around the gym.”

To his surprise Steve just let out an aggressively loud laugh while Bucky belatedly clasped his hand to his mouth.  Steve wiped his eyes before asking what that was even supposed to mean.

“Well…” Bucky wasn’t sure this was salvageable…but he was going to have to try his best.  “I guess I’d always figured that you were straight as there were no blips on my list when I accidentally refreshed it once in the gym perimeter…so…”

The glee on Steve’s face could have powered a small country.  “Good grief Barnes, and you were acting like Natasha was not obvious.  You’re right, I don’t have a grindr.  Because I don’t work that way…I like to be in meaningful relationships, hookups have never really worked for me.  Also, I’m bi…not gay, I don’t know if that makes a difference.”

“But you said you weren’t on the same team my sister was looking for…?”

“ _Yeah_ you creep!  I’m in my thirties and she’s in college.  And she’s your _kid sister_.  What is wrong with you?” He replied as he gave Bucky a gentle shove.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, Bucky thought.  “So you’re single though…?” He fished as he grabbed his water-bottle and straightened up.

Steve just looked at him for a moment.  “Yes.  I’m single.  That doesn’t mean I’m not interested in anyone though.” He replied with a small smile.  “What about you, Bucky?”

“Yeah, yeah…same situation here.” He answered breathlessly.  This conversation could not possibly be going where he was hoping…that wasn’t his luck… “Are you, uh, planning on doing anything about it?  Do I know them?”

“You do know him…” Steve paused to put his damp shirt back on (the angels _wept_ ).  “Well, as one of my closest friends Buck, maybe you can give me some advice...there’s a slight problem.  I work as a personal trainer, and having a relationship with someone I train is definitely unethical…both from the gym and my personal code.  But my technical partnership with one of them doesn’t last _too_ much longer…and maybe they’d be willing to wait until then…what do you think?  Do you think this theoretical person would think I’m worth the wait?”

_The heavens were opening up above him and Bucky was ascending._   There was no way this was reality.  Bucky was wearing his grungiest shirt and his running shorts with a hole in the ass.  But Steve’d been brave…the least Bucky could do would be to try and help him.  And of course he would wait.  Honestly he hadn’t looked at another guy twice since Steve blew into his life.

“I’m pretty sure this theoretical person would think that you’re _definitely_ worth the wait.  And that, as your _closest friend_ , anyone who wouldn’t wait for you is a complete shit head.”

Steve snorted before leading them back towards the gym.

“Wait Steve!”  Bucky called as he caught up to him and apparently lost all sense of trying to play it cool, “it’s me right?  Please tell me it’s me.  I know we’re playing with being vague but this will literally keep me up all night.  Just nod or shake your head.”

“Of course it is you, you damn punk.”  Steve replied before pulling Bucky to him by his hand and giving him a brief kiss on the cheek.  Bucky’s flesh felt like fire everywhere that Steve had touched and this was no different…he was certain he’d have a scorched lip print when he looked in the mirror.  “Now I’m serious, that’s all you get until we’re done with our actual training…the race.  No being a little shit.”

“Oh, you want me to be patient?  I was a fucking _sniper_ Steve.  I waited hours for the perfect shot without moving a visible muscle.  I will out-wait you like a _damn professional_.”

“Alright Sarge, we’ll see who wins.  However now I really am late so we actually need to get back to the gym.” 

 

 

* * *

 

**Moving up from a Half-Marathon to Marathon: your complete transition plan**

            Maybe Bucky’s relationship with Steve up to that point was a bit less platonic than he would have guessed…seeing as once they had established “pre-dating” really nothing changed.  The training and the runs continued, with only Bucky being a bit more confident in his lines and him throwing a few more winks around.  And maybe Steve was starting to let his guard down too.  Bucky definitely caught him biting his lip in an _extremely_ unprofessional manner while spotting him from behind during modified clean sweeps.  Bucky only responded with a hidden smirk and doing a bit more pop-and-lock than the move really called for from then on out.  At least until Steve yelled at him about accidentally injuring himself by screwing up his technique. 

            And if Bucky had ceased to masturbate to anything besides the thought of Steve holding him up against a wall or the memories of running into a red-faced Steve frantically trying to cover himself post-shower with the tiny, scratchy gym towels while Bucky whistled at him no one could blame him.  As far as he was concerned he was dating-betrothed to a Freaking Sex God, he was completely within his rights.   

The last two months of training flew by and before Bucky knew it he was somehow standing at the starting line, looking out over the quiet of Arlington and trying to push down an unexpected surge of emotion swelling in his throat as the National Anthem began playing.  If Steve noticed the glassy-sheen Bucky’s eyes took on during the song he didn’t say anything but as soon as the song was over Steve did take his hand in both of his and gently kissed his knuckles.

Bucky tried and failed to fight down the shiver the wracked his body.  _Jesus_ , he has once gotten a blowjob in the bathroom at a popular restaurant without so much as a peep, but a single chaste press of Steve’s lips to his hand made him flutter.  _Unbelievable._

“Steve!  I don’t know if I can do this!!” Bucky grabbed his hand in a panic as the keyed-up runners around them started hollering and jostling them.

“You’ve done all the training…you were strong before and now your completely prepared.  I promise you can do it…and I’ll be here at your shoulder the entire way, no matter how fast or slow we go, right?” 

Bucky put his head in the crook of Steve’s neck and let himself breath in that comforting scent that he associated with weekends and happiness and sunshine in the closest capacity yet to calm down.  He felt Steve’s strong, warm arms pull him in tighter before kissing his temple and he felt more than heard Steve comment that now was the time to go, right around the same time he heard the starting gun go off.

Steve was right.  He had spent half a year training.  And just the other weekend he enjoyed their last long run that was almost this same length…he was prepared.  And all he had to do was cross the line and then fall into Steve’s waiting arms.  With that thought he gave Steve a smile and a head nod before they let themselves be swept into the race course with the stream of runners.

 

The first 2 miles were really just a warm up ( _when had this become his life??_ ).

The next 10 miles were actually a piece of cake, filled with people watching and joking around with Steve.

Miles 12-18 were still within the realm of feeling solid and strong, but towards the end the last 8 or so miles to go were looking more like a hurdle than something fun.

Each mile after got worse and worse.  Somehow Steve was not phased (Bucky knew he had run many marathons before, so the end-of-race-mentality was something he had tried to train himself out of) and he was honestly a godsend.  Without Steve alternating between ribbing him with dirty jokes and letting Bucky tell him over and over that he hated him Bucky knew he would have elected to quit a long time ago.

The last two miles were the worst.  Bucky only got through for two reasons.  #1 Steve informed him with one mile to go that his friends, sister and the Weekend Warriors were all planning to come to the finish to watch.  On one hand this was touching, on the other it meant that Bucky now had to freaking finish and not look like he was dying, _goddammit Steve._  

And #2 Steve gave up on normal trainer encouragement and began an endless stream of dirty, absolutely _filthy_ things he would do to Bucky to reward him for finishing.  _Holy shit_ , those things should NOT have been stated in a stage-whisper when they were weaving their way through runners going a bit slower than they were.  And it should _not_ have been possible for Bucky to turn even more red and sputtering seeing his already taxed physical state.

 

It was definitely a team-effort as the two of them finally made it to finish line and pushed themselves over it.  Bucky knew it was cliché but he couldn’t stop his eyes from watering as he received his finisher medal and walked over to their friends with Steve’s strong (absolutely foul smelling) arm around him, holding him tight and whispering how proud he was of him.  Bucky wiped his eyes to ask if they could take a picture that Steve could print really large to hang on his back wall behind his desk.  Steve just laughed and assured him they would take all the pictures once they met up with their friends who had phones on them. 

It wasn’t long before they heard the tell-tale Howling that earned half of the Weekend Warriors their name and Bucky was immediately enveloped in a hug by a positively bawling Natasha.  Well, as hugged as he could be since he could barely get within a foot and a half of her torso. 

“Jesus Nat, did you think I was actually going to die?” Bucky asked while wiping her eyes for her.

“It’s the _hormones_ you asshole!  I have never cried happy tears before but now I can’t stop.”  She sniffled, “and _now_ you two assholes can finally be over your horrible pining!”  She grabbed Steve to drag him into the hug as well.  “I’m just…so… _happy_!!”

Steve took over dotting on Nat while Bucky was able to find his sister and the rest of their friends then found a race worker to take tons of pictures of all of them.  Bucky’s favorite consisted of him forcing Steve to carry him bridal style while Becca pouted in the background.  Steve agreed to blow that one up for his wall before they left.

 

 

 

Even though Bucky had spent the last 3 or so miles of the run concentrating on the clock ticking until he could get Steve into bed he hadn’t been accounting for the endless post-race festivities, which then spiraled into all the guys from the running group getting together for a last hoorah (nevermind the fact that they were planning next week’s runs already…the masochists).  By the time they had shrugged out of the group and dealt with their endless mocking, a line-change and 3 instances of single tracking on the metro they didn’t limp back to Bucky’s apartment until late afternoon with food in hand. 

“FINALLY.” Bucky whined as he threw open the door and hurried in.  Steve followed at a more sedate pace, giving Winter a few side pats in greeting before heading to the kitchen to get drinks and leave food in her bowl as Bucky dumped the take-out Chinese food on the coffee table and threw himself dramatically on the couch.

“C’mon Steve!  You’ve officially been off the clock for…over four hours and I still have no idea what your dick looks like!” Bucky lamented while checking the time on his watch.

 Steve bothered to stick his head all the way out of the kitchen in order to fix him with an unimpressed face.  “Bucky, that isn’t even true.  I can remember at least 3 times you’ve seen me in the gym showers…” 

“Are you serious?  That doesn’t count!  Gym-locker-room dick is _completely_ different from boyfriend-on-the-couch dick.”

Steve returned with some bottles of water (and plates, thank GOD…there was no way Bucky could wobble to the cabinet for anything).  “First, you’re kinda gross.  Did anyone ever tell you that?”  Now it was Bucky’s turn to wear the unimpressed face.  “Second, boyfriend, eh?  We making it officially already?  What if I’m a horrible kisser or I have awful morning breath?”

At this Bucky reached up from his prone location on the couch to grab Steve’s hand and reel him in.  “Hmm…well, I can figure out the first one…” When Steve was close enough Bucky released his hold and relocated his hand to the back of Steve’s neck, slowly pulling him in until they were close enough that Bucky could start appreciating all the subtle alterations in his blue irises, the view interrupted only by slow sweeps of those lonnnng eyelashes.  Following one final shared breath between them Bucky finally closed his eyes and their lips met. 

The initial contact was about as routine as he had always remembered kisses to be, and truthfully he was a little disappointed to not see fireworks and a get his “foot-pop” (of course he has seen The Princess Diaries, he has a sister!).  He still couldn’t help a smile as he felt Steve’s lips turn up at the corners against his before feeling Steve’s fingers dragging up through his hair.  _God damn_ , screw the saying “the path to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” the true path is definitely through perfectly executed hair-pulling.

With a slight groan he allowed his head to be maneuvered closer to Steve’s and he was quickly rewarded when lips met his once again…the sweet kiss from before was gone in favor of heat that Bucky felt race up the back of his spine as continuous kisses became open mouthed and sloppier.  And YES, _yes_.  There were the fireworks and (internal) foot-pop.  He received a moan for pulling Steve’s plump bottom lip into his mouth and giving it a tiny nip before a soothing lick.  He felt one hand slip down from the back of his head, thumbing along a tendon in his neck and then wrapping around his back to pull him closer.

_Jesus Christ_ , he’d never really had strong feelings about wanting a physically larger partner, but feeling Steve’s arm encompass him and manhandle him was pushing buttons he didn’t know he had.  He felt fingers brush up along the far edges of his ribs before settling to hold the meat of his shoulder just under his stump and barely contained the full body shiver that ran through him.  “Is this okay?” Steve pulled back to ask. 

“Yes!  Keep it going.  More!” Bucky returned while latching Steve’s shirt in his fist and trying to pull the man to lie down on top of him on the couch.  Bucky was technically able to run a marathon…how was he gasping for air?  Unfortunately instead of yielding to his bodily suggestion Steve instead sat back further on the couch and removed the crumpled shirt from his fist, running his fingers through his hair to try and flatten it.

“Buck…hey, let’s take a bit of a breather…okay?”

 “What?? Why would we want to do that?”

“Because I’m so wound up that if we keep this going it’s going to be a very quick thing on the couch and that’s not what I want with you” Steve said as if it was the simplest thing in the world to back up from the brink.

“Don’t you want me?” Bucky tried to do his best kicked-puppy pout on Steve.

Steve held Bucky’s hand up to his mouth before kissing each knuckle individually, and opening his fingers to place a tickling kiss against his palm.  “Of course I want you.  Do you have any idea how badly I want you?  I can’t _remember ever_ wanting someone like this…honestly, it scares me.  I want to make you forget your _name_ , I want to be the only thing you focus on in the world.  Will you please let me love you like that?  Not as a quick handjob on the couch for our first time…also, I’m pretty sure after the events of today you need some food, as my last trainer request, and we should probably shower first too because I’m pretty rank” Steve laughed. 

“UGH” Bucky whined, “you’re such a damn sap, how could anyone argue with that logic?  Alright, fine, but food, shower, then sex, right?  No more delays?”

“We can always wait until tomorrow if you want to sleep…you really do need some rest, you literally ran for more than 4 hours today!  I definitely understand” Steve said while giving him his stupid assessing-trainer-look.

“Stop treating me with kid gloves.  We’re eating, I’m showering then you’re fucking my brains out.  Then tomorrow we’ll do it again.  I’m not even feeling that tired.” Bucky tried to argue however it was interrupted by an extremely badly timed yawn.  Steve just smirked at him.  “That’s all the challenge I need, right there!” Bucky proclaimed, taking his hand back from Steve in order to point at him.  “There will be no sleeping until after sex tonight!”

After inhaling their food (“Bucky, as health professional I’m honestly concerned.  We’re not having sex any quicker if I have to take you to the ER for choking to death on an egg roll”), Steve convinced him to take the first shower under the guise of cleaning up the dinner.  Bucky didn’t even want to argue because now that he stood up after sitting for a while his legs were starting to feel a bit like lead and he had no energy to spend on dishes as he forced himself through his shower routine. 

Steve popped his head into the bedroom to find Bucky sitting naked on the bed staring at him with a challenging smirk before heading into the bathroom to clean himself up.  He couldn’t have been in the shower for more than ten minutes before he brushed his teeth and quietly turned off the lights and made sure the door was locked before returning to the bedroom. 

He found a still-naked Bucky passed out on the bed with his feet resting on the floor, as if he’d crashed while sitting up and fallen onto the bed behind him.  Steve just smiled fondly at him and closed the curtains (it was still light out for god’s sakes) before gently pulling back the covers as much as he could.  Then he carefully slid his arms under Bucky, checking his face for any signs of waking before pulling him up and rearranging him in the bed. 

Steve got all the way into bed next to him with the light out before Bucky started snuffling around in his sleep and making whining noises.  “Just go to sleep Buck, I’ll be here when you wake up and all day tomorrow, don’t worry” Steve whispered to him and kissed his head, taking advantage of his wakefulness to tug him into properly being little spoon.  After some more incoherent mumbling and some aggressive scooting of his firm - yet still adorable – ass into Steve’s lap, milking the cuddling for all it was worth Bucky’s breathing evened out again.  It didn’t take long before Steve dropped off with his lips pressed to those dark locks and Bucky secured in his arms. 

 

 

 

By the time the light was creeping steadily in through the curtains Bucky began to stir.  How had he even been able to stay asleep?  Now that he was gaining consciousness all he could focus on was how HOT he was.  His attempt to throw off the covers for some relief was blocked by a heavy weight over him. 

“Mmf...good grief you’re wiggly in the morning” came a voice next to his ear.  Not just _a_ voice, but _Steve’s_ voice.  That was enough for Bucky’s eyes to fly open as he started twisting around to glare at the human currently doing his best impression of an octopus as the events from last night came back to him. 

“Steve Rogers, you punk!  Why’d you let us fall asleep?  We had important plans…”

“We’re awake now!  And since we both have Sundays off we can spend all day making up time.”  Steve murmured as he reached out to card his fingers through Bucky’s hair and began kissing him like the past 10 hours hadn’t happened. 

Alright, fine.  Bucky could get behind that.  Besides if they had gone ahead last night it would have been a hurried thing before they both crashed out…now with the day stretched out before them and Steve slowly blinking at him in the light in a great impression of Winter he knew it was the right decision.  Even though he’d never admit that to Steve.  _Ever._

Bucky ran his fingers up through Steve’s hair and pulled the human furnace towards him and began angling him for a deeper kiss.  After a few moments of slow, sleepy kisses Bucky felt Steve leaving tiny, nips on his lower lip before licking over the small hurts.  He sighed in satisfaction and opened his mouth to Steve, slowly feeling their tongues lazily caress.  The caresses soon got a bit more heated as he felt Steve wrap his arms around Bucky and tug him so their bodies were laying flush against each other and… _hello there!_

 “Oh shit” Bucky moaned out as he started grinding in earnest against the solid morning wood that Steve was sporting.  Bucky had woken up with a base-level of arousal and he was quickly reaching his peak as he felt Steve lightly cursing against his neck and stuttering every few moments with a sharp intake of breath.  He felt, more than heard, the rumbling growl in Steve’s chest as his strong hands grabbed Bucky’s ass and rolled them both over so Steve was leaning over him, rubbing himself in earnest against Bucky’s thigh. 

Bucky cried out and let Steve manhandle him –GOD that made something clench in his stomach – pulling them both through pleasure while Bucky kissed and sucked on his collar bone.  As if on cue a large crash sounded from the closed door, immediately followed by a frantic meowing.  Then a repetitive banging of the door in the frame as Winter stuck her paw underneath the door to pound on it with her tiny fist.

“Oh _come ON,_ cat!  Can’t you let me have this??” Bucky began whining as he broke the kiss with an exaggerated pout.  “Let’s see if she stops.  Maybe she’ll magically not want breakfast…”

They lay quietly in each other’s arms and Steve started giggling as the pounding/meowing combination continued.  Once Steve started laughing in earnest Bucky couldn’t help but join in.

“Alright, alright.  I’m giving up.  I’m going to throw food in her bowl and we’re going to keep going like there was no interruption!” Bucky ordered as he slowly extricated himself from the covers and Steve.

“Okayyyy” Steve whined.  “Wait, actually, can you bring us a snack too?” He asked with hopeful eyes.

“Are you even kidding me right now?” Bucky threw back the covers to side-eye him nakedly.

“I can’t help it...I’m hungry. And if we eat something now we won’t have to get out of bed until later….”  Bucky’s stomach growled on cue and Steve raised his eyebrows at him.

“Jesus, fine, I’ll throw food at the cat and the humans then we’re picking right back up.” He reasoned as he hopped off the bed to stand beside it and… “Holy _shitttt_!  Oh my _god_! _My legs_!” He cried out dramatically while flopping back onto the bed.

 Steve sat up immediately, amusement growing to concern as he looked him up and down.  “Are you injured? Or just sore?”

“I think just sore…they both feel completely like noodles.  But how can noodles cause so much pain? Ugh, can you feed the cat?  I don’t think I can move.  OH MY GOD, HOW ARE WE GOING TO HAVE SEX?” Bucky began panicking.

Steve smoothed his hand over his back and as much as Bucky didn’t want it he couldn’t help but take comfort from the motion.  “Hey, baby.  We’ll have sex, it’ll be amazing.  I’m going to feed the cat, bring us a snack and then give you a leg massage, ‘kay?  Then when you’re feeling good I’m going to slowly, _slowly_ take you apart.” Steve promised him before leaving him after a kiss to his temple.

After some scuffling, meows and footsteps Steve returned and leaped onto the bed, tossing a pouting Bucky around. 

“Man, I haven’t had a Poptart in years!  As your ex-trainer I’m frowning at this food, but as the naked guy in your bed I’m pretty proud of this stash.  My mom used to get the strawberry ones...or maybe they were raspberry.  I’m pretty sure they had blue frosting…which was that?”

“Ugh, you were one of those people who ate the fruit ones??  Heathen!  Then only good ones were all the ones with chocolate.” Bucky highlighted by poking his finger at the fudgy-goodness shown on the box.  “Well, I think they had cinnamon ones too?  I guess those were acceptable.”

“Well that is definitely a breakfast of champions right there.  At least when they were fruit flavored you could lie to yourself that it was a little healthy…” Steve broke off as he opened a few packages of snacks for them and they each ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the companionship and the now quiet apartment. 

 

;

 

As soon as Bucky had the last piece of Poptart in his mouth Steve stood out of the bed and wrapped his hands around Bucky’s ankles before quickly pulling him down to lay in the middle of the bed.  All Bucky could do was bite his lip and think about how easily Steve was able to pull him around and imagine other ways he could use that strength.

“Want to roll over on your stomach, babe?” Steve asked him as he started running his hands gently up and down Bucky’s shins.  In response Bucky used his arm to flip over onto his front and grabbed a pillow to put under his head.

He sighed out as he felt Steve’s hands slowly skating over all of his skin on display and then a few moments later he heard a cap click open and Steve was rubbing something over his hands. 

“Are you massaging me with lube?!” Bucky asked, completely scandalized.

“Oh my god, _no_.  These are my very fancy massage oils that can _happen_ to also act as a sexual stand-in if needed.  But I brought some of the real stuff too, so do not worry.  Now shush and enjoy my magic hands!” Steve intoned while wiggling his now oily fingers at Bucky like a _damn creep_.

Bucky’s incoherent mutterings quickly turned to an embarrassing groan as Steve took his left foot in his hand and began softly digging his thumb into the arch.  He giggled as he felt Steve press a kiss to the inside of his ankle and then tried to hold onto his sanity as Steve slowly rubbed each individual tendon of his foot followed by rolling his ankle slowly before gently placing it down and starting up with the right one.  By the time both feet had been rubbed and kissed Steve began working from his ankle to his knee, digging his thumbs into his aching calf muscles and slowly wringing the strain out with long, deep swipes.  He then turned his hands to roll the columns of muscles between his fingers and thumb, getting the entire thing soft and pliant before giving his shin some strong swipes to loosen up a muscle Bucky didn’t even know existed. 

As Steve kissed the inside of his knee before moving onto the second calf all that Bucky could do was silently praise any and all gods that had led to the creation of PT school and promising to burn a candle in honor of each and every saint who taught Steve Rogers how to use his hands like this.  It was a damned _religious experience_. 

The thighs followed in a similar manner, with Steve slowly working muscle by muscle until all the tightness was gone and Bucky was absolutely drooling into the pillow and working hard to stay on the same plane of existence.  He was expecting the massage to be over but then Steve’s fingers began digging into the outside of his hips and his thumb slid up the deep tendons that ran from the back of his thigh to his back.  He could feel the heat of Steve behind him as Bucky whimpered and let his legs fall open further as he began massaging his butt and very lower back.

Bucky had started getting hard almost as soon as Steve had begun running those hot hands on him, and by now he was aching.  As Steve kneaded his ass muscles it caused his body to be pushed further into and along the sheets, putting extra pressure and stimulation on his throbbing (and apparently very wet) crotch.  An embarrassing noise slipped from him as he felt Steve’s fingers start tracing down his crack and ghosting over all of his intimate places. 

He heard a bottle crack open behind him as Steve asked him how he was feeling.  Although Bucky was definitely wrecked right now at least Steve’s voice didn’t sound much better.  Bucky thought he answered…at least the grunt he made was an attempt at an answer.

“ _God_ Bucky.  Do you have _any_ idea how good you look?  So fucking pliant and happy.  Your muscles are so soft and loose, aren’t they baby?”  Bucky moaned in acknowledgement as Steve used his left hand to continuously rub gently at the crease where his cheeks met before sliding down to massage directly over his perineum.  Bucky let out a high pitched whine and rocked back on his fingers.  “ _Christ_ , yes baby boy.  Just like that.  I bet you’re so relaxed that I could just slide right inside you, hmm?” 

Bucky nodded frantically into the pillow and pushed back on the wet fingers he now felt lightly pushing against his rim.  “Let’s see baby…oh _shit_ …oh _god_ , yes,” Steve moaned with Bucky as his finger gently slid all the way in.  “Look how good you take it…I’m so proud of you.”  As good as Steve slowly fingering his ass felt, it was the completely _wrecked_ voice Steve was using that was pushing Bucky over the edge.  He sounded like watching his single finger buried in Bucky was the highlight of his entire fucking _year_ , and wasn’t that a heady experience.

“ _Steve_ , more.  Come on!  I can take it, _please_ … _please_ give it to me…” Bucky moaned out as he tried to take more of Steve’s finger.  He heard the other man’s breath stutter behind him before Steve let out a groan that Bucky felt in his bones before removing his hand and smoothly sliding two fingers into him before scissoring them.  Bucky cried out and couldn’t help begging for Steve’s cock as soon as he felt the stretch give way to pleasure.

He whined at the loss of fingers before he heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper behind him and felt Steve hovering over him.  Steve’s right fingers tangled with Bucky’s underneath the pillow while he lined himself up with his left hand and sloppily searched for Bucky’s mouth with his.  Bucky twisted his head around to meet him in a kiss that became a shocked moan as Steve slowly pushed into him.  Steve continued with kisses that were mostly moaning into his mouth as he slowly made his way into Bucky.  By the time his hips were flush with Bucky’s ass he had given up on his attempts at kissing in favor of resting his forehead on the nape of Bucky’s neck and alternating curses with groans as he slowly established a rhythm. 

“ _Steve_ …oh god, _more, please!”_ Bucky begged while lying totally prone under the mass of muscles.  Steve answered by nipping his ear and pulling himself up so that he was pinning Bucky’s lower back flat to the bed with one hand while using the other to stabilize himself as he thrust with renewed vigor at his new angle.  Bucky howled into the pillow as his prostate was kissed every time Steve thrust home and the sweat dripping on Bucky made him deliriously lost in the pleasure.

He didn’t know which way was up when Steve completely withdrew and manhandled Bucky over onto his back.  They made eye contact for a long moment…Steve looked positively _feral_.  His face was bright red and Bucky could barely see any blue in those eyes anymore.  And _yes,_ there was that gorgeous blush filling out his entire chest.  Bucky knew he couldn’t look too great as his eyes had been watering into the pillow from the constant prostate stimulation and he felt like he still had drool on his face from the massage. 

Steve must have liked what he saw though because he leaned over and swallowed Bucky’s cock to the hilt.  Of all the things Bucky had foreseen coming next this was not it, and the overwhelming heat and moisture and _tightness_ of his mouth was about to blow his mind.  He heard and felt Steve moaning around his cock and felt the bed shaking underneath him… _holy fuck_ Steve was desperately fisting his cock like sucking on Bucky was making him lose his damn _mind_.

Bucky grabbed his hair and tried to pull him off.  “Steve!  Steve, baby… _please…_ stop, stop!  I don’t want to come yet… _so close_.”  Steve got the message and pulled off before licking his lips in the most obscene way Bucky had ever seen.  “Jesus fucking Christ!  You’re a goddamn menace!”  The mocking lost some significance when Bucky was laying this his arm over his eyes and struggling to get a full breath.

Steve crawled up his body to run his fingers through Bucky’s hair and kiss him in a very chaste manner considering he was literally just pulled off his dick.  “What do you want baby?  Want to come with me inside you?  Want to be able to clench around me and feel me filling you up when you go off, huh?”  Bucky couldn’t contain the massive shiver that shook his body and the dribble of precome that made it pretty obvious just how badly he wanted that.  Steve kissed him chastely once more before resuming his position between his legs and watching himself slide _slowly_ back into Bucky’s waiting body while Bucky tried to not choke on his own spit at the absolute reverence that Steve was watching the show with.

He reached down to try to either stave off his orgasm or help its approach before Steve slapped his hand away.  “ _Christ_ , Buckyyy…do you have _any_ idea what you do to me?” Steve groaned as he did a little stutter move and watched Bucky’s hole flutter around him.  “God _damn_ you’re doing so well baby.  Just want to be filled up by me, huh?  _Darling_ …you just take it so _well_ …” Steve whined as he started picking up a rhythm again.  “I hope you’re close because you’re making me lose my damned _mind_ over here Buck.”

Bucky managed a weak nod and a pitchy whine.  “Give it to me Steve…please…give it to me so hard, _god_ I want you to fill me up…wanna feel you for a damned _week_.  _Please_ …please, I’ll take it _so well_ …” he trailed off as Steve choked on a moan.

Steve’s breathing became absolutely ragged as he slid his arms under Bucky’s lower back and _lifted_ his entire body-weight off the bed.  Bucky couldn’t help the ragged laugh interspersed with moans as he realized that while his head and shoulders were trailing on the bed Steve was completely supporting him as he curled over Bucky’s body, holding his lower body suspended in place as he began to thrust in earnest.  Bucky wrapped his legs as tightly around him as he could and clawed up Steve’s back, bending just slightly, causing Steve’s pounding to change to the most _delicious_ angle.  Bucky could feel his orgasm approaching and whined for Steve to touch him.

 The Steve’s rhythm became unsteady as he gently snaked one of his hands between the two of them.  Their bodies were so tightly together that he couldn’t get his fist around Bucky, but tried to cup his hand around him as much as he could.  That small bit of friction was all that his revved up body needed before he saw white and he began spilling all over his stomach, his cum dribbling through Steve’s fingers and starting to slide down his chest.  Steve growled and let go, returning his hand to continue supporting Bucky’s weight.

“Oh _god Buck…._ your _face…_ just a little more, please…I’m _so_ close…” Steve panted in apology as he continued pumping into his spent body.

Bucky wrapped his fingers in Steve’s hair, yanking his head to him and began pouring all of his aftershocks into a sloppy kiss with Steve…whimpering and groaning as the continued motions oscillated from being _too good_ to deliciously good.  He finally felt Steve’s hips stutter before one…two…three more thrusts and he let out a sob.  Bucky could swear he felt Steve swelling inside him as the man hunched over him, and continued with a couple of weak thrusts.  Finally after one last full body shiver he unceremoniously dropped Bucky to the bed and all but collapsed on top of him. 

After they lay catching their breath for a minute Steve slowly rolled off with plenty of groans before dropping the condom in the trash can and getting a washcloth to clean them up.  Bucky watching him with half-lidded eyes as he threw the cloth in the direction of the bathroom and pulled Bucky to him under the covers.

Bucky heard him open and close his mouth but then beat him to the punch.  “I swear to god Steve, if you fucking apologize I’m kicking you out of this bed and never letting you back in.  I’m pretty sure I just achieved nirvana, I’m not letting you take this away from me.”

He felt more than heard Steve stifle a giggle into his shoulder before confirming that it was okay and snuggling closer to Bucky.

“We might have to change plans though…I don’t know how many more rounds I have in me for today if you fuck like that all the time… _Jesus_.  I’m pretty sure I just ran a second marathon.”  This resulted in more giggles from Steve that Bucky joined in with, at least until Steve smoothed the sweaty hair out of his face and they fell asleep kissing in each other’s arms.

 

* * *

 

**Post-Race Plan: you finished your first marathon, now what??**

If someone were to tell Bucky three years after his marathon he would be once again standing in the unseasonably freezing DC fall weather waiting for the starting gun of another race he would have told you to take a hike.  A very cold, 26.2 mile hike to be exact. 

Steve wasn’t able to talk him into another marathon since that first one.  Bucky had been willing to keep up the workouts with him (but now as just his hard-ass boyfriend who pushed him out of bed in the morning) and had done a few little races, but really wasn’t interested in joining anything over a 10K with his favorite runner.  Steve had been pleading about wanting to do a repeat of the MCM this year for some reason, but Bucky’d pretty aggressively put his foot down.

Steve had managed to whine him into doing the Army 10-Miler together instead…so a shallow victory, but Bucky was still counting it. 

It turns out that after training to run 26.2 miles, relearning to run 10 miles wasn’t too bad.  It also helped that since Steve was now there in BF capacity instead of trainer capacity as long as they got the bare minimum of long runs in he was kind of a push over to stay in bed and cross-train on mornings when they just couldn’t bear to leave. 

If the MCM brought on an emotional wave, it turns out the Army starting line was even worse.  He had dug out his old Army PT shirt just for the occasion.  However, he did upgrade his awful black PT shorts to the soft bright red ones he had grown to love…who cared if he looked like a duffus?  At least this year they didn’t have to metro…for some reason Sam was very adamant about picking them up and dropping them off with a promise to see them at the finish line, even though he wasn’t even running as far as Bucky could tell.

Steve nudged Bucky with his elbow to get his attention then they made their way over to the starting line where all the runners were congregating.  Steve was hopping in place and beaming while Bucky crossed his arm the best he could to try to contain his warmth while scowling at him.  They didn’t have long to wait before the building nerves in his stomach began to give way to the solid surge of emotion that always accompanied the National Anthem. 

He could barely see the band, but he knew the military brass anywhere.  As always at the songs crescendo he felt his eyes growing a bit hot and the familiar almost-sob that rose in his throat.  By the end the crowd was pulsing with energy and everyone around them started whooping.

Steve pulled Bucky over by the shoulders and smiling, kissed his cheek.  While Bucky was distracted he also gave him a swift pat on the ass.

“You’re such a jerk!  Knocking around a veteran at his very own branch’s race…who even are you?” Bucky’s face of pretend disgust was replaced with a smile as he saw the crowd in front of him beginning to move and shoved Steve off balance before taking off.  He only heard Steve’s muffled “HEY!” as he sprinted as far as he could ahead, laughing while trying keeping his breath.

 

 

It hadn’t taken Steve too long to catch up with him (Bucky swears the man is part gazelle).  They passed the time the same as the marathon, though now with slightly less UST and more inside jokes and innuendos.  As Steve had promised, the race really wasn’t as hard as he had imagined and even though he could start seeing the finish line Bucky was still feeling pretty spry.

But, it seemed as though Steve was starting to drag a little.  Bucky reached down to grab his hand and gave it a little squeeze…now that he thought of it Steve was looking a little off…maybe he was coming down with something?  Oh god, had he accidentally eaten a strawberry energy gel??  That was a level of GI disaster that Bucky had no desire to be around for….Steve gave him a pretty solid smile though, and sped back up so he filed it away for later.

They were in the shoot leading into the finish corral, maybe 10 feet away from the line when Bucky felt a sudden tug on his arm, grinding him to a halt.  “What?  Oh my god, Stevie!  Are you alright??” Bucky felt his (still heavily beating) heart leap into his throat when he spun around to find Steve crouched on the ground behind him.  “Did you hurt your ankle?  Is it your foot?” Bucky began going through the checklist of possible injuries while he started trying to look through the runners who were surrounding them to get the attention of a medic…there had to be some around here somewhere…

“No, Bucky, I’m fine…”

“You don’t have to be a martyr, _Jesus_ Steve!” He replied as he continued looking around.  But instead of help on the outside of the race course he saw…Natasha…?? She grinned back to him and waved, seemingly unconcerned to the spectacle that was going on around them.  A child shouting nonsense led him to find Clint next to her, holding Ana.  And Becca….and Sam…with a camera…?  Natasha slowly pointed behind him and he was shaken out of his distraction when he felt a tug on his hand.

And turned back to find Steve not writhing on the ground in pain as he had anticipated, but instead on one knee with a hand cupped against his chest.

“What…”

“Bucky, I know you didn’t know why it was important to me that we do this race.  But I couldn’t think of a better place to do this than a throw-back to how we met.”

“Steve _, what??_ ” There was no way that Steve was doing what Bucky thought he was doing.

“Shush.  Ever since you darkened my tiny office that first day my life has been filled with so much laughter and love.  I’m so glad you came to our gym and let me force you to run a marathon with me and then that you kept me around afterwards.”  Steve stopped to catch his breath quickly.  Bucky was pretty impressed he could string so many words together, as Bucky was still panting pretty hard from running.  “I can barely breathe, so I’ll make this fast: will you cross this finish line with me as my fiancé?”  With that he opened his hand revealing a small, simple silver band.

Bucky couldn’t help the childish giggle that escaped him.  “God that was sappy.  _Are you_ _serious_??” He hesitated before grabbing the ring. 

“I’m very serious, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me James Buchanan Barnes?”

“ _Yes_ , you punk!” Bucky replied, letting Steve slide the ring on his ring finger on his right hand, and if he struggled due to the sweatiness of said hand Steve was too much of a gentleman to mention it.  As soon as it was securely on him Bucky tangled his fingers in Steve’s shirt to yank him standing and caught him in a kiss.  An extremely sweaty, gross smelling kiss.  But it was perfect.  A perfect first kiss with his _fiancé._   He might take a while to get used to that.

As soon as they kissed a huge wave of cheering erupted around them.  Way louder than just their friends.  The first thing Bucky saw was Natasha sneaking to wipe her eyes through a smile and a good portion of the finish area cheering and clapping.  _Oh shit_ , right.  That was embarrassing.  Even the finish line photographer had appeared out of nowhere, busy capturing the moment with a huge smile and a thumbs up.  "Go on, finish!” the camera lady called to them, waving them through. 

Steve brought Bucky’s hand up to his face as he slowly kissed the ring on his finger.  Then let go of his hand in favor of putting his hand square on his chest and pushing him off balance as he smirked and started running towards the finish.

“ _You complete punk!_ ” Bucky yelped in outrage as he got his feet back under him, sprinting to catch up with his fiancé across the line.


End file.
